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February 27, 2023 Content Chat Recap: A Real Look At Building Your Early Public Relations and Content Career Outside the 9-to-5

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A Content Chat header image that says today’s topic is A Real Look At Building Your Early Content Marketing and public Relations Career Outside The 9-to-5 with guest Alek Irvin, who is @AlekIrvin on Twitter.

It’s natural for many communicators—marketers, content creators, public relations pros—to start and spend most of their careers in a traditional 9-to-5 role. Others of us, however, have found the advantages of freelance work to be too good to pass up and a natural evolution of our career—after we learned how to overcome the many challenges of freelancing, that is.

In this #ContentChat recap, Erika and I provide a real look at building your early public relations and content career outside the 9-to-5. We reflect on how and why we changed career paths, share lessons learned in building our freelance networks, and detail the strategies that have helped us thrive as consultants. See my brief answers below — we discussed each of these questions in-depth on a LinkedIn Live audio conversation—listen to the recording here.

Q1: What did you want to be when you grew up?

Q2: What did you go to school with the intention of doing?

Q3: What caused you to leave the traditional 9-to-5 employee career path?

Q4: What surprised you most about your career journey?

Q5: How have you built your freelance or consultant work?

Q6: What challenges have you overcome to build a stable career as a contractor?

Q7: How would you respond to a manager or a client who objects to you having a freelance gig or a side hustle?

Q8: What advice would you share with someone considering becoming a content marketing or public relations freelancer?

About Alek Irvin

Alek Irvin is a content marketing professional with a rich history in social media management, executive thought leadership development, and media relations. As a consultant at Erika Heald Marketing Consulting, he creates human-focused content and thought leadership platforms that help brand leaders connect and engage with their communities. Alek has worked with a range of startups and Fortune 500 companies across the B2B technology and consumer spaces, including IBM, Dell Technologies, Hitch Works, Emtrain, Integrate, and Frameable. Connect with him on Twitter @AlekIrvin.

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